Centerline: You might not want to run circles around my 10' inflatable w/ inf. floor. It will do 25 mph w/ a 15 hp, 75 lb, electric start Evinrude! I also have a new 3.5 hp, 41 lb , 4 stroke Tohatsu for short runs. The roll up storage, major stability is why I own an inflatable. There is nothing that rows well except a kayak and I own 3 of those.
I have owned 7 inflatable dinghys. The only one I hated was an 8' poor quality Zodiac as it porpoised under power and had no room. Chief
Chief, you are correct.
but almost always, when one is considering whether or not to fork out $200 for a dinghy, a much more expensive one is not usually in the line up of choices.... it will likely be one of the "poor quality" ones you speak of...
there is a large difference between a 8ft boat and a 10ft boat... its a 25% bigger platform, but within that 25% comes bigger and better everything well in excess of 25%, unless room is a factor, in which case its not going to be better if it cant be stored.
and guess i didnt specify, but i meant the soft floor inflatables that so many buy of this size...
and you said what I was trying to convey, "The roll up storage, major stability is why I own an inflatable"... storage is a BIG issue and of course the large air chambers that make up the boat are more stabile, but this is partially a factor of the weight of it also.
if storage, handling and cost were not an issue, we would all own RIB's, which gives the benefit of having the rigid hull with the stability and safety of having a large air chamber around us...
but not all of us have a need or desire to roll the boat up to store it, and others of us dont want to take the time to inflate and deflate it whenever we want to use it....
its all relative....
and as for towing in rough water, its not such a good idea with either boat, this is when the storage factor comes int play.
but i have towed ours in some pretty rough water, but it depends on the direction of travel vs the direction of the seas, as to what precautions need to be taken.
